That was then

L and I found this in some back alley way in Venice... Look how adorable that bookshelf is on the left!

We decided it just needed a little bit of TLC and new knobs!



Getting it off the streets was beyond anything a sketch comedy show could have portrayed!  But we were persistent and got it done!



Just a little hand sander (don't get me started on THAT story) and this guy is ready for the o'natural look or a quick coat of paint or stain and some fancy knobs from Anthropologie.com  and Bob's your uncle!




For some reason, I guess I never took a photo of it all sanded!

White Bean and Peppers

My last shipment of Farm Fresh to You looked like this!


1 Green Honeydew Melon
4 Haas Avocados
3 Yellow Nectarine
1 Strawberries 
1 lb Ass't Summer Squash
.5 lb Sweet Gypsy Peppers
1 Bunch of Broccoli
1 bunch Nantes Carrots
4 Bay Mixed Lettuce

More gypsy peppers came and with the shipment came a recipe from AllRecipes.com for a White Bean and Peppers. Recipe can be found here: 

It was quick and QUITE tasty!

Candyman: The David Klein Story

I was flipping through the Roku last night trying to find some much needed distraction when I finally settled on  this:

Like Jelly Bellies themselves, I was drawn to this documentary by the cute little beans on the cover of the screen, which is what first drew me to the little delicious bellies themselves.

I never ever liked jelly beans.  Weird Al in this documentary describes regular jelly beans as "packing material that was used in Easter baskets" and I could not agree more with him.  Jelly Belly, is a candy all on its own (and vegetarian friendly as they do NOT contain gelatin!) I would not bother to put any other jelly bean in my mouth.

This is an interesting documentary about David Klein, the founder of Jelly Belly and the tumultuous history about how Jelly Belly was started, and where it is at today. 

Jig-er Bug

When you tell a friend that you just watched a documentary about Irish Step Dancing... this is what you get:

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

PS, the documentary was called "Jig" and can be streamed off of Netflix.



I used to Irish Step Dance as a young child.  I lived in a town adjacent to a large Irish community and my bestie at the time was very much Irish.  I was the only anomaly (aka non-Irish) in the line of dancers. 

I really enjoyed the few years spent dancing.  And if the mood is just right, I could even dance a few jigs myself still.  Gotta love muscle memory.

What did you do as a kid? Any fun dance or sports or art program?

YAY Sorbet

Sorbet, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

I finally "mastered" the sorbet aspect of the Vitamix. It does have to do with proportions, which I HATE, but when it works, it works!

3/1 frozen to non frozen.

Here was 1 cup of coconut yogurt, 2 cups of frozen strawberries and 1 cup of frozen loquats. I also added in a splash of vanilla extract. At the end, I did a quick pulse of raw cocoa nibs.

This could have served 4... we ate it all that night.

When Life Gives You Dill... you make Dill Hummus

I had found dill and cucumbers at the farmer's market which led me to the idea of PICKLES!!!  Well, that didn't happen... yet.  I ended up eating the pickles before I could get the other ingredients for pickling, mainly, the pickle salt.

So in the meantime, I have been dilling everything!  This weekend, we picked up some chive hummus and I thought... DILL HUMMUS!

A few searches on the internet brought me this recipe. I copied and pasted it from Food.com.  The uploader was 3killerbs

Ingredients:

1/2 lb chickpeas (garbanzos)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup tahini
3 garlic cloves, whacked and peeled
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)

Directions:

1 - Soak chickpeas overnight. Bring to a boil and simmer 30-45 minutes or until tender.
2 - Drain, reserving liquid.
3 - While chickpeas are still hot, put them into the blender with all the other ingredients.
4 - Add 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and blend on medium speed until it achieves a smooth, peanut-butter-like consistency. Add additional cooking liquid if it seems too stiff.
5 - Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

6 - Best if chilled overnight to develop flavor.

My lil' growing sprouts

My lil' growing sprouts, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

My little sprouts are growing! After a few weeks of not being sure if the fickle cilantro or the arugula was gonna make it, over the weekend it seemed to find the will to live.

Its hard to see in this photo, but the cilantro is standing up now, and the arugula leaves are actually starting to take shape!